- US Judge Blocks Trump Regime’s New Student Loan Restrictions
Source: US News & World Report
“A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from implementing a new rule that would impose lower federal student loan limits for people pursuing graduate degrees in nursing and other healthcare-related fields. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., late on Wednesday sided with eight trade organizations including the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the PA Education Association who sought to block the rule from taking effect on July 1. … That law scaled back a federal loan program for students pursuing graduate degrees, eliminating one type of loan that allowed students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance and imposing new caps on another type of loan.” (06/25/26)
- Crisis looms for Pope Leo as splinter sect seeks to ordain far-right bishops
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A far-right Catholic sect’s plan to ordain its own bishops on the first day of July has placed it on a collision course with the Vatican – posing a possible crisis for Pope Leo a little over a year into his papacy, and straining the Roman Catholic church’s already fraught relationship with rightwing and traditionalist Catholics in the US and elsewhere. Founded in Switzerland in 1970 to oppose liberalizing reforms in the Catholic church, the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) has gained significant followings in the US, France, Argentina and other countries. … Under Catholic canon law, ordaining bishops without the Vatican’s authorization is grounds for immediate excommunication. So far, both sides in the game of brinkmanship are refusing to blink. The Guardian contacted the Holy See and the SSPX for comment but neither responded.” (06/25/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/25/pope-leo-far-right-bishops
- Core US inflation rate hit 3.4% in May, highest since October 2023, Fed’s preferred gauge shows
Source: CNBC
“The Federal Reserve’s primary price gauge rose at its highest level since 2023, reinforcing the central bank’s recent tough talk on inflation. Excluding food and energy, the personal consumption expenditures price index showed a 3.4% annual rate after rising 0.3% for the month, both in line with Dow Jones consensus. The core reading was the highest since October 2023. … Even with the elevated inflation levels, consumer spending for the month came in stronger than expected.” (06/25/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/25/pce-inflation-report-may-2026-.html
- Indian, Iranian regimes discuss boosting energy ties, trade after seven-year oil import halt
Source: mint [India]
“India and Iran on Thursday discussed strengthening energy cooperation and bilateral trade during a meeting on the sidelines of a BRICS energy ministers’ gathering in New Delhi. Iranian oil ministry news outlet Shana first reported the development after a meeting between the oil ministers of both countries. India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, met with Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector. … Historically, India has been a crucial buyer of Iranian crude oil, but suspended imports in 2019 after Washington reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil exports, Reuters reported. Since then, oil-sector cooperation between the two sides has declined significantly.” (06/25/26)
- SCOTUS strikes down Hawaii’s private property gun restrictions
Source: The Hill
“The Supreme Court on Thursday invalidated Hawaii’s gun restrictions on private property in a 6-3 vote along ideological lines, ruling it violates the constitutional right to bear arms. Justice Samuel Alito agreed with gun rights advocates that the state can’t block handgun possession on private property by default unless someone receives the owner’s express consent. ‘This regime hobbles what the Second Amendment protects: the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives. We hold that the law is unconstitutional,’ Alito wrote. It’s the latest gun measure to fall under the conservative [sic] majority’s expanded Second Amendment test, which requires firearm restrictions to be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition [but not, obviously, with the US Constitution].” (06/25/26)
- NYPD, feds raid homes of high-ranking NYPD chiefs
Source: Jefferson City News Tribune
“The NYPD and the FBI executed search warrants at the homes of several former and current high-ranking NYPD officers early Wednesday as part of an ongoing bribery probe …. Former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey and former NYPD Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard were among those visited by a joint FBI and NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau task force. Investigators also hit the home of NYPD Assistant Chief Jimmy McCarthy, the head of Patrol Borough Manhattan South. The NYPD said Wednesday McCarthy has been stripped of his gun and shield and transferred as the probe continues. Assistant Chief Melissa Eger, the head of Patrol Borough Staten Island, was transferred to Manhattan to replace McCarthy. The bribery allegations could be tied to promotions in the department, a source with knowledge of the case said. The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is heading the probe, declined to comment.” (06/25/26)
https://www.newstribune.com/news/2026/jun/25/nypd-feds-raid-homes-of-high-ranking-nypd-chiefs/
- South Korea: Leader of secretive church arrested on suspicion of election influence
Source: Yahoo! News
“The leader of a secretive South Korean church was arrested on suspicion of election influence Wednesday as authorities widened an investigation into allegations that he illegally recruited thousands of followers into the conservative People Power Party. The Shincheonji Church has denied the accusations against Lee Man-hee, 95, a self-proclaimed messenger of Jesus who founded the congregation in the 1980s. The church says it has about 200,000 followers. Since January, a special team of prosecutors and police has been investigating alleged ties between religious groups such as Shincheonji and the Unification Church and politicians. … Lee has been suspected of using the church’s regional branches to pressure more than 50,000 followers to join the People Power Party, or PPP, from 2021 to 2024 in hopes of influencing the party’s presidential and legislative primaries.” (06/25/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/leader-secretive-south-korean-church-150954352.html
- Oil price falls back to pre-Iran war levels
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“The price of oil has fallen to levels not seen since before the Iran war as traffic through the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route gradually resumes. Global benchmark Brent crude briefly fell below $72.48 (£55) a barrel, the price it was at the day before the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February, before edging up to $73.23. Energy prices have been on a wild ride since Iran responded to the strikes by effectively closing the strait, a critical waterway for oil and gas shipments. The cost of crude has been moving sharply lower since the US and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 17 June which set out a 60-day period for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme and other measures to end the war.” (06/25/26)
- Vermont is the first state regime to ban paraquat, a weed killer allegedly linked to Parkinson’s disease
Source: Seattle Times
“Vermont has become the first U.S. state to ban paraquat, one of the most commonly used herbicides, with lawmakers citing a possible link between the weed killer and Parkinson’s disease. The ban has been widely celebrated by advocates who hope Vermont’s move will prompt similar action in other states to prevent the neurologic disease that robs people of control over their movements and affects about 1 million Americans. … The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the safety of paraquat after saying there’s no clear link between the herbicide and Parkinson’s.
Syngenta, a Swiss chemicals company that has made paraquat for years, announced earlier this year that it would stop global manufacturing or selling of the chemical, but also defended the herbicide’s safety. Other companies continue to sell it.” (06/25/26) - Ryanair “reluctantly” allows parents to sit with their children without additional charge
Source: Reuters
“Ryanair will ‘reluctantly’ allow parents to sit with their children for free from Thursday, a change it said would be revenue-neutral and comes two weeks after Britain’s competition watchdog launched a probe into its policy. Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers previously required adults travelling with children aged between 2 and 11 to pay a ‘family seat’ charge, allowing up to four children to sit next to one accompanying adult. … The budget carrier said families still have the option of paying the charge to reserve seats. Otherwise, they will be allocated random seats together for free after check-in, likely towards the rear of the plane. ‘We will reluctantly adjust to this industry standard as we don’t want to waste time explaining to misguided regulators how badly they misunderstand what is in the best interest of UK and Europe’s consumers,’ Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said in a statement.” (06/25/26)
- Kenyans March to Mark Anniversary of Deadly 2024 Anti-Government Protests
Source: US News & World Report
“Dozens of Kenyans took to the streets on Thursday under heavy security in memory of protesters killed two years ago when massive anti-government demonstrations erupted in Nairobi over proposed tax hikes and the surging cost of living. Organisers had planned remembrance marches in the coastal city of Mombasa and the capital Nairobi to mark the anniversary of the June 25, 2024 unrest, when protests escalated dramatically and protesters breached parliament grounds before a security crackdown left dozens dead. … Dozens of marchers turned up in Mombasa escorted by security forces while Nairobi’s streets appeared largely deserted as police set up roadblocks with water cannons and mounted a razor wire barricade outside parliament.” (06/25/26)
- IBM hails new “block of flats” design breakthrough for ultra tiny chips
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“IBM has unveiled a new chip design which it says could enable manufacturers to cram 100 billion transistors on a silicon chip the size of a fingernail. The current industry-standard size for chips, measured in a the unit of nanometres – a billionth of a metre and the size of a few atoms – is around two nanometres (nm). But IBM claims its new chip tech is the equivalent of around 0.7nm, which may make it the world’s first known chip technology below 1nm. However, it will be several years before the chip tech could be ready to go into production. The firm claims in tests, its prototype performed 50% better than its own 2nm chip and was 70% more energy efficient. It claimed similar boosts in performance when it debuted its 2nm chip tech back in 2021 – saying at the time its tests of those, slightly larger, chips produced similar leaps in performance and energy efficiency.” (06/25/26)
- Cambodia: Supreme Court upholds treason convictions of two journalists held political prisoner
Source: ABC News
“Cambodia’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the treason conviction and 14-year prison sentence of two journalists who posted photographs on Facebook last year related to border clashes with Thailand, prompting new accusations from rights groups that Prime Minister Hun Manet ‘s government is influencing the courts to quash press freedoms. … ‘The bogus prosecution and draconian prison sentences handed down to these two journalists shows the Cambodian authorities’ disdain for media freedom,’ Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, told The Associated Press.” (06/24/26)
- Reflecting Pool Solution: It’s Right There in the Name!
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“My solution has three parts. Part one: Drain the pool. Part two: Zone the pool ‘commercial.’ Part three: Auction the pool off to a new, private sector, owner. I mean, it’s prime commercial real estate, right? Smack in the middle of a busy tourist area, lots of people walking around all day long with money in their pockets. And have you ever noticed what that tourist area’s called? ‘The National Mall.’ But good luck finding a Nordstrom or Bath & Body Works there. It’s mostly just museums and statues of, or for, dead people.” (06/25/26)
- What Comes After the Nation-State?
Source: Law & Liberty
by Graham McAleer“In the long history of the world, the nation-state is anomalous. In 1900, only 25 percent of the global population lived in a nation-state; today it is close to 100 percent. Nearly 50 percent of today’s states were founded in the thirty years after WWII. … After Nations tells a great historical story, yet plebian uprisings against oligarchy are one of our oldest political tales. Resentment seems as likely a part of our digital future as emancipation. [Rana] Dasgupta thinks, maybe correctly, that oligarchy can jettison the creaking state.” (06/25/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/what-comes-after-the-nation-state/
- Why Those in Political Power Are in a Hurry
Source: Cobden Centre
by Dr. Richard M Ebeling“Those in political power always seem to be in a hurry. It is not surprising that their time horizons for ‘action’ never extend more than a few years ahead of them, though for different reasons. If it is a dictatorship, the tyrant in power can never be sure when an assassin’s bullet might cut his life short, or if some of his ‘loyal’ followers may be conspiring to overthrow him …. Little by little, however, some began to make the case that of course liberty is essential and property rights are important, but there are some particular needs or problems for which, surely, there can be an exception. … So why is it the case that in America today (and in most other modern democratic countries), those who hold political office seem so much in a hurry with short-term horizons guiding their actions, in their own way similar to dictatorships?” (06/25/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/06/why-those-in-political-power-are-in-a-hurry/
- The High Price of Free Speech
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Angela Manaco“In 399 B.C., Socrates chose to drink hemlock and suffer a painful death rather than submit to the state and live a life devoid of critical examination. He would be horrified to see how close we have come to constructing his nightmare: a society willing to jettison free speech and embrace state-defined ‘safety’ over the messy, painful, and necessary work of questioning why we believe what we believe.” (06/25/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-high-price-of-free-speech/
- How The Free Press spun Trump’s cruelty toward migrants as a heroic campaign to “save” kids
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko“In my last post, I looked at how The Free Press’s coverage of the refugee resettlement program sanitized MAGA and Trump administration rhetoric, praising Trump for ‘fixing’ a refugee program he’s aggressively sought to eliminate for everyone but white South Africans. Today, I want to look at another issue where The Free Press’s coverage has been sensationalist, overtly partisan, and consistently wrong on the facts: what happens to kids who show up at the border to request asylum.” (06/25/26)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/how-the-free-press-spun-trumps-cruelty
- The Mind and Brilliance of Alexis de Tocqueville, Part Two
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis“Some more thoughts from the Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville: 1.) This first statement is brilliant and perceptive beyond description. America, 2026: ‘When the taste for physical gratifications among [men] has grown more rapidly than their education … the time will come when men are carried away and lose all self-restraint.’ God said to Moses that when the Israelites ‘have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them.’ When the desire for physical gratification outruns our wisdom and moral education, then people will be ‘carried away and lose all self-restraint.’ … There is no doubt in my mind that the desire for physical pleasure in America today has far outpaced our wisdom and moral education, and the results are plainly manifest in the massive amounts of promiscuity, corruption, fraud, decadence, selfishness, and licentiousness that plague our nation.” (06/25/26)
- Ozempic Sat Unused for Decades Because Invention Is Not Enough
Source: The Daily Economy
by Per Bylund“Pfizer knew GLP-1s worked in 1990, but didn’t see their potential. The 30-year detour shows entrepreneurship matters as much as raw invention.” (06/25/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/ozempic-sat-unused-for-decades-because-invention-is-not-enough/
- Massie and Greene could help conservatism survive Trumpism
Source: The Hill
by Kevin Igoe“Together, Massie and Greene paint a picture of conservative voters disappointed in Trump and not MAGA true believers who take every word Trump utters as gospel. The Massie-Greene conservatives remember what Trump said on Monday. When he contradicts it on Wednesday, they say ‘What?’ By Friday, they have grown tired of waiting for the truth. Thus, they hear a call to action. Certainly, Massie and Greene do not want to be blamed for tipping one or two battleground states to a leftist Democratic nominee. … If Massie and Greene work together, talk together and make demands based on conservative principles they could push any Republican nominee, especially Vice President JD Vance, into a delicate balancing act.” [editor’s note: If Massie and MTG are not interested in running as “Libertarians,” that’s a win for them, and for libertarians, but not for fake “spoiler” reasons – TLK] (06/25/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5938543-trump-massie-greene-conservatism/
- Congress blows the roof off home supply
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“For the past couple of years, American politicians on the left and right have competed to define a political buzzword: affordability. Does it mean increasing individual resources to meet everyday costs? Or raising the output of goods and services to lower prices? Or both? On Tuesday, Congress did the country a favor by passing a bill – in a rare case of broad bipartisanship – that helps give common meaning to the word. The measure puts a stamp of approval on an often unescapable law: that supply will rise to meet demand when free to do so. The bill, which still awaits the president’s approval, mandates a range of initiatives aimed mainly at raising the nation’s housing stock. It would reduce production bottlenecks rather than raise subsidies for home purchases. The number of parts in the legislation itself reflects how much lawmakers endorse a supply-positive approach.” (06/24/26)
- Degrowth makes us all poorer
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie“There is an aesthetic and romantic tradition, a very old strand of thought predating socialism, and going back through Ruskin and Morris to Romantic-era reactions against industrialization. It simply finds modernity ugly, hurried, and spiritually depleting. Smallholding, craft, and seasonal eating have a genuine appeal to people who feel that modern life has lost something. This is not quite an argument, it is a sensibility which should not be dismissed. There are real questions about meaning and community in industrial modernity, but it tends to romanticize pre-industrial poverty selectively. Institutional capture has boosted the degrowth movement because much of its language now comes from NGOs, international bodies, and academic departments that have strong incentives to find crises requiring their management.” (06/25/26)
- On Iran, Trump Is Neither Neocon nor Obama, and It Is Working
Source: Real Clear Politics
by Larry Kudlow“There’s vastly too much hand-wringing over President Trump’s diplomacy and potential dealmaking with Iran, and it’s coming from friends and foes alike. I think it has more to do with America’s crumbling political infrastructure, than it does regarding the merits of Mr. Trump’s efforts. First of all, the so-called memorandum of understanding is a nonbinding political document which simply outlines topics to be covered in the months ahead for some kind of final deal. Some people are taking parts of this MOU completely out of context for their own political gain. Let’s step back for a moment.” [editor’s note: Yes, let’s step back and watch Larry Kudlow try to explain away the loss of an illegal and entirely optional war – TLK] (06/25/26)
- Alan Greenspan and the Monetary Monopoly
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Sergio Martínez“A central bank wields a peculiar kind of power. It holds a monopoly over money, and money runs through nearly every transaction we make. Because of that reach, a monetary mistake travels through credit markets, housing, banks, pension funds, and the budgets of millions of people who never had a say in the policy. That is the right place to begin a reflection on Alan Greenspan, who died on June 22, 2026, at the age of 100. His was a mixed legacy. Here was a man who understood the power of markets, and who nonetheless turned on those markets when they soured, blaming private excess for a crisis his own institution had helped make possible.” (06/25/26)
https://fee.org/articles/alan-greenspan-and-the-monetary-monopoly/
- Clarence Thomas Is More Dangerous and Powerful Than Ever
Source: Truthdig
by Bill Blum“Clarence Thomas went more than 10 years without asking a single substantive question from the bench. His silence between 2006 and 2016 prompted commentators to call his courtroom quietude embarrassing, a sign of fatigue and a lack of intellectual candlepower. Even earlier in his career, he had earned the nickname of ‘Scalia’s Puppet’ for his habit of joining majority opinions written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the outspoken and reactionary ‘originalist’ who shared the dais with him until his death in 2016. But the characterization of Thomas as an inattentive echo of Scalia is wrong. Thomas has always been more extreme and dangerous than Scalia, and his influence has never been greater.” (06/25/26)
- X Marks the Grift?
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“Most of the calumnies against Elon Musk come from people who are either envious or completely unaware of the basic principles of economics. Or both. That being said, not everyone ‘in my camp’ admires or defends the South African-American tech magnate.” (06/25/26)
- Prohibition Didn’t Stop Marijuana Use. It Stopped Marijuana Research.
Source: Reason
by Adam Omary and Jeffrey A Singer“When Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, marijuana’s placement in Schedule I was explicitly provisional, a placeholder pending review by a presidential commission. The Shafer Commission, chaired by a Republican governor and composed largely of President Richard Nixon’s appointees, concluded in 1972 that marijuana did not meet the criteria for Schedule I and recommended decriminalizing personal possession. Nixon ignored the report and escalated the war on drugs. The provisional classification became permanent by default. Since 1965, an estimated 29 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges, roughly 90 percent of them for possession alone. The most damaging consequence of Schedule I, however, has not been to cannabis users, who have gained access through state legalization, but to the research enterprise.” (06/25/26)
https://reason.com/2026/06/25/prohibition-didnt-stop-marijuana-use-it-stopped-marijuana-research/
- The KIDS Act Would Require Age Checks To Get Online
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Joe Mullin“Buried inside the KIDS Act are provisions that will push online services to verify all users’ ages, require government-directed moderation policies for online speech, and even create new rules about private and encrypted communications. While supporters continue to claim this bill protects minors online, its requirements come at the expense of privacy, free expression, and the ability of people of all ages to use the internet without revealing sensitive data. Supporters of KOSA have said the bill doesn’t require age verification. And technically, the KOSA section of the bill does say that KOSA shouldn’t be read to require age verification. But if you read the rest of the bill, that disclaimer starts to look hollow.” (06/25/26)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/kids-act-would-require-age-checks-get-online
- Democrats cliff dive over the far-left edge of American politics
Source: Fox News
by Hugh Hewitt“The Democratic Socialist Party (DSA) in America is anti-West, anti-American, anti-Israel and antisemitic. It is also on the march across deep blue America. Tuesday night’s sweep by far-left candidates for Congress in New York City, all backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, underscored just how rapidly the DSA is ascending within the shell of the fractured and frazzled Democratic Party. Traditional Democrats who pay attention to their national brand are astonished by what has happened to their party as it goes full ‘Thelma and Louise’ off the far left cliff of American politics. This is the third act in a three-act tragedy.” (06/25/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/morning-glory-democrats-cliff-dive-far-left-edge-american-politics
- Bureaucratic Information Gathering
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy“We rely on experts for a lot of our information. By ‘expert,’ I mean someone who is paid for their opinion. Roger Koppl uses this definition in his 2018 book Expert Failure, and I use the same definition in my research, which is based on his book. This definition is useful because it allows us to sidestep the endless (and, frankly, arbitrary) discussion about who counts as an expert. … When we deal directly with an expert (our doctor, our mechanic, our meteorologist), we can get the information firsthand. But in a large organization, there are often several layers of communication between the expert (the one producing the opinion) and the non-expert using the opinion.” (06/25/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/bureaucratic-information-gathering
- Why Is the Federal Reserve Paying Banks Billions in Interest?
Source: The Daily Economy
by Thomas L Hogan“The Fed pays banks billions more in interest than it earns on assets. Could a floor system save the central bank from future losses?” (06/25/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/why-is-the-federal-reserve-paying-banks-billions-in-interest/
- Congress Is Preparing To Surrender American Sovereignty on the Eve of America’s 250th Anniversary
Source: Antiwar.com
by Dennis Kucinich & Elizabeth Kucinich“The United States Congress, on the very eve of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, is preparing to formally diminish American independence and sovereignty through a proposed merger and long-term integration of executive functions throughout the government, coordinated by the Department of Defense. Treacherous provisions in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) mandate that the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Commerce Department, and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies cooperate with their Israeli counterparts for the purpose of consolidating U.S. and Israeli military activities in order to align efforts and avoid duplication.” (06/25/26)
- We Need an International Treaty to Ban Superintelligence
Source: Persuasion
by Andrea Miotti“As today’s AI companies race to create artificial intelligence that is smarter than humans, governments around the world are failing to meet the moment. … The only solution is an international prohibition on the development of superintelligent AI.” [editor’s note: In other words, only “rogue states” would develop superintelligence. How’s that likely to work out for everyone else? – TLK] 06/25/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/time-for-a-global-moratorium-on-superintelligenc
- Why The ROAD To Housing Act Will Not Lower Your Housing Costs
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey“The new federal ROAD to Housing Act focuses on relief for community banks, changes to manufactured housing rules, and updates to existing federal programs. It limits large investors from buying single-family homes. The bill authorizes no new funds in most of its sections. Proponents say the country faces a severe housing shortage. As usual, the federal government is behind the curve. But the ROAD Housing Act is a mixed bag, like most laws. The positive: loosens some regulations. The negative: it will restrict supply (opposite of its intent).” (06/25/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/why-the-road-to-housing-act-will
- Fight Within Democratic Party About Which Future We Get
Source: Common Dreams
by Corbin Trent“The Democratic Party is trying to get born again. For forty years it didn’t want to be. Since Reagan, the Democrats stopped fighting the world he built and started managing it. Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and sent the factories south. He signed the crime bill Joe Biden wrote and helped fill the prisons. He ended welfare and called it reform. He tore down the wall between the banks and your money, and a few years later the banks lost your money and got bailed out for it. Obama bailed them out, let the houses go, deported people by the millions, and kept the drone war and the surveillance state running without missing a step. On the things that decide who holds power, money and war and the police and the spying, our party and theirs were one party. That was never where they fought.” (06/25/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/mamdani-future-of-democratic-party
- The Ambiguity of “Growth”
Source: Aaron Ross Powell
by Aaron Ross Powell“A shifted focus to maintenance and care can’t address that need for what’s better. No matter how much time I spend in the garage lovingly tending to a classic car, it’s not going to get the gas millage or safety features of a current model hybrid. Yes, of course, we also buy junk. You’re better off investing more in, and caring for, a great pair of boots or jeans than buying another piece of fast fashion that’ll fall apart in a year or less. Probably. Maintenance is a good approach to some goods, but it fails as a systemic model for areas of rapid technological, environmental, or societal advancement. But the point is that most of the products out there now are, in meaningful ways, better than what came before. That’s growth, in the second sense, not an obsession with growth in the first.” (06/24/26)
- When did Western statecraft lose its fear of the unknown?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Matthew Blackburn“Prudence has been replaced by confidence that conflict can be precisely managed. Nowhere is that more evident than in the European approach to Russia.” (06/25/26)
- The Architecture of Freedom: Randy Barnett’s Natural Law Case for a Free Society
Source: Freedom and Flourishing
by Dr. Edward W Younkins“Randy E. Barnett is one of our most important contemporary defenders of a free society. Trained as a legal scholar but working at the intersection of law, political philosophy, constitutional theory, and economics, Barnett has developed a comprehensive moral and institutional justification for liberty that draws upon natural law, natural rights, individual sovereignty, and the evolutionary benefits of social order. Unlike many economists who defend capitalism primarily on grounds of efficiency, or philosophers who rely exclusively on consequentialist arguments, Barnett seeks to demonstrate that a free society is both morally justified and practically necessary because it provides the legal and institutional framework within which persons can pursue flourishing lives according to their own judgments.” (06/25/26)
https://www.freedomandflourishing.com/2026/06/the-architecture-of-freedom-randy.html
- Reflections on Character as Destiny
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson“Half the problem with Trumpism is Trumpism. And the other half of the problem with Trumpism is Trump. Trump will always betray those who trust him. And he will always force his underlings to go out in public and defend indefensibly stupid things. Ask Larry Kudlow or Kevin Hassett. And, contra National Review’s social-media intern, Trump will reliably make everything he gets his hands on ugly: His Caligula-by-way-of-Liberace aesthetic is not only—or even mainly—the result of bad taste but the result of bad character. There is a reason vanity is numbered among the seven deadly sins. To assume that the reflecting pool work would be done incompetently and corruptly is far from absurd. If you happen to be among those who believe that character is destiny, then it is, at the very least, a reasonable assumption even if it is something short of an existential certainty.” (06/25/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-reflecting-pool-vandalism-claims/
- How Greek Merchants and Philosophers Discovered Economics
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Marcos Giansante“Long before economics became a discipline—before universities, statistical models, or debates over monetary policy—a more fundamental question emerged on the shores of the Aegean Sea: Why does order exist at all? The question did not arise in a royal court, a military academy, or a government bureau. It emerged among merchants, sailors, craftsmen, and philosophers living in the bustling Greek cities of Ionia.” (06/25/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-greek-merchants-and-philosophers-discovered-economics
- Freedom Works with Paul Molloy, 06/25/26
Source: Freedom Works
“Chris Edwards, CATO Institute ‘Federal Government Spending is a Leaky Bucket.’” (06/25/26)
https://internetradiopros.com/freedomworks/?name=2026-06-25_zfw006242026.mp3
- Singapore’s Challenge to Classical Liberals
Source: Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa“After spending time in Singapore, I am more convinced than ever that what has given this island the world’s second– or third-highest per capita gross domestic product (in purchasing power parity) is not its ‘state-managed,’ ‘politically engineered’ socioeconomic model nor its authoritarian politics, but its economic freedom. However, its social cohesion, multi-ethnic peace, and well-being, which are significantly linked to government interventionism, continue to challenge us classical liberals, who would like freedom to be the founding principle not just of prosperity but also of other desirable social outcomes.” (06/24/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/06/24/singapores-challenge-to-classical-liberals/
- Democratic socialists say they’ll save the workers, but their “rescues” ALWAYS fail
Source: New York Post
by John Stossel“Not long ago, new kinds of jobs appeared: app-based gig work. They include jobs like dog walking on Rover, Taskrabbit work, DoorDash food delivery, Uber and Lyft driving, and many more. Lots of people like gig work. It’s flexible; you work when you want to work. But ‘workers’ rights’ activists and governing socialists don’t like that. Gig workers rarely join unions. They don’t get a minimum wage. ‘Uber and Lyft exploit their workers.’ is a headline at MS NOW. ‘We can’t ignore it.’ The democratic socialists said they had a solution. Seattle’s City Council imposed a $26 delivery-driver minimum wage. What could go wrong? Two years later, we know the answer: Gig workers make no more money, but prices go up. Apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats added a $5 fee for consumers ‘to help cover the costs of these … regulations.’ Now Seattle residents complain about prices.” (06/24/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/06/24/opinion/democratic-socialists-say-theyll-save-workers-but-always-fail/
- Thomas Jefferson: The Lost Founding Father of American Conservation
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by Jonathan Wood“Two years before he authored the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson set out to conserve Virginia’s Natural Bridge—and pioneered a uniquely American model of voluntary stewardship.” (06/24/26)
https://www.perc.org/2026/06/24/thomas-jefferson-the-lost-founding-father-of-american-conservation/
- Technology – overcoming challenges
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton“Today, too many people think of ‘technology’ as having only to do with information technology. Others (rightly) speak of the evils of ‘technocracy’ as a form of increased government control by a self-chosen elite. But there is much more, and technology offers solutions to many problems we face today. Just as it has in the past. However, it is also just as dangerous and wrong to think that every problem can be solved with technology or that any problem can be solved only with application of technology.” (06/24/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/06/24/technology-overcoming-challenges/
- Elizabeth Warren Wants To Raise Taxes and Give All the Money to Senior Citizens
Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm“Her plan to fix Social Security’s fiscal flaws would ask workers to cover the full cost. Some Republicans are supporting it too.” (06/24/26)
- Do I Look like a “Radical Left Lunatic” Vandal?
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard“I blundered on Saturday by failing to check the latest updated terrorist profile before visiting Washington, DC. How was I to know that National Guard troops would be on the lookout for 60ish bicyclists who are too damn curious about algae? I went riding around downtown Washington to check the latest Trump administration efforts to make Washington ‘safe and beautiful’ for the 250th birthday celebration next month. … I wanted to see the Reflecting Pool that President Trump boasted was twice as long as the Empire State building—except that the pool is flat. Arriving at the Pool, I was stunned to discover that that waterway was almost as heavily militarized as the Strait of Hormuz. National Guard troops swarmed the scene. The heavy troop presence reminded me of what I saw on the streets of East Berlin in 1986.” (06/24/26)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2026/06/24/do-i-look-like-a-radical-left-lunatic-vandal/
- Cato Podcast, 06/25/26
Source: Cato Institute
“The Abundance Alliance?” (06/25/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/abundance-alliance
- The Libertarian Angle, 06/25/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Libertarian Angle: Why Did Germans Support Hitler?” (06/25/26)
- The Illegal News with Sarah Longwell, 06/25/26
Source: The Bulwark
“JD Vance Got Caught Playing Both Sides (w/ Andrew Weissmann).” (06/25/26)
- Kibbe on Liberty, episode 392
Source: Free the People
“Central Planning Won’t Fix New York | Guest: Larry Sharpe.” (06/25/26)
- The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen, 06/25/26
Source: The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen
“American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington.” (06/25/26)
https://rosenjeffrey.substack.com/p/american-patriarch-the-life-of-george
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/25/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Blurts Out Plot to Rig Midterms So Vile It Even Shocks GOPers.” (06/25/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/212313/trump-blurts-plot-rig-midterms-vile-even-shocks-gopers
- What Then Must We Do, 06/24/26
Source: What Then Must We Do?
“Things in Britain Are Worse Than Ever—So Why Is Rod Humphris So Optimistic?” (06/24/26)
- Parallax Views w/ JG Michael, 06/24/26
Source: Parallax Views w/ JG Michael
“Senate Bill Would Force Sensitive Intel Sharing With Israel w/ Paul Pillar.” (06/24/26)
- Capital Record, episode 307
Source: National Review
“Is Growth Doomed?” (06/25/26)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/is-growth-doomed/
- The Kyle Anzalone Show, 06/24/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Larry Johnson: Trump, Iran, And The Real Leverage Behind A Deal.” (06/24/26)
- The Chris Hedges Report, 06/24/26
Source: The Chris Hedges Report
“Fighting the Corporate Duopoly at the Ballot Box (w/ Kshama Sawant).” (06/24/26)
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/fighting-the-corporate-duopoly-at
- Pink Flame of Liberty, 06/24/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“LNC Email CENSORSHIP???” (06/24/26)
- Sal & Mark, episode 8
Source: Free Talk Live
“Dan from Pirate Chain joins the show to break down what makes Pirate Chain the most private cryptocurrency by any objective measure, what is coming with the new Unified Light Wallet, and why the project avoided the Zcash Orchard vulnerability entirely.” (06/25/26)
- TAC Right Now, 06/24/26
Source: The American Conservative
“Can Vance Solve Iran?” (06/24/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/tac-right-now-can-vance-solve-iran/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/24/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“The Jekyll Island Creature Returns – With Guest G. Edward Griffin.” (06/24/26)
- The Science of Politics, 06/24/26
Source: Niskanen Center
“Can we make legislators more effective?” (06/24/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/can-we-make-legislators-more-effective/